# Mildest and strongest habanos brands?



## nem (Aug 2, 2006)

Being a newbie to the world of ISOMs, I'm wondering what are Habanos' mildest and strongest brands? I've heard that Quai d'Orsay, which is supposedly only popular in the French market, are some of the mildest habanos around. Is this correct? On the other, I've read that the RyJ Cazadores are some of the strongest regular production habanos around while the RyJ line in general tends to be relatively mild. But which habanos brands tend to have the strongest smokes?


----------



## drdice (Sep 11, 2006)

From my limited experience... a Bolivar (can't remember the exact name- it was Robusto size) totally kicked my ass! I had to put it out after maybe smoking a third...obviously I'm not worthy of these yet!

I haven't tried a Cuban yet that I would classify as mild. Probably the RyJ tubo #1 and #2 were the mildest of cubans that I've ever tried.


----------



## DCMD (Dec 5, 2005)

According to a Habanos book I have here Hoyo de MOnterrey, Guantanamera, Fonseca, Rafael Gonazalez, & Quai D'Orsay are the mildest smokes. The heavy hitters are Partagas, Bolivar, Saint Luis Rey, Ramon Allones, Vegueros & Cabañas. 

Of all of them I have only had the Cabañas, and although it wasn't a very good cigar, I could feel the kick.


----------



## nem (Aug 2, 2006)

DCMD said:


> According to a Habanos book I have here Hoyo de MOnterrey, Guantanamera, Fonseca, Rafael Gonazalez, & Quai D'Orsay are the mildest smokes. The heavy hitters are Partagas, Bolivar, Saint Luis Rey, Ramon Allones, Vegueros & Cabañas.
> 
> Of all of them I have only had the Cabañas, and although it wasn't a very good cigar, I could feel the kick.


Interesting! I'm not suprised that Partagas and Bolivar are among the stronger habanos. But I thought as SLR were rolled in the same factories as RyJ, they'd be on the milder side?


----------



## DCMD (Dec 5, 2005)

Interesting! I'm not suprised that Partagas and Bolivar are among the stronger habanos. But I thought as SLR were rolled in the same factories as RyJ, they'd be on the milder side?[/QUOTE]

That shows a level of knowledge above mine. I am just typing what they have in the index of my Habanos S.A. book. I guess they could use the same factory, but just swap the tobacco they are using for the day.


----------



## allanb3369 (May 15, 2006)

Bolivar is going to get a lot of comments regarding it's strength, but not all are so "Bolivar-ish". The Boli PC is not like its brothers and I've found the Boli Belicoso isn't always a killer either.

Siglo VI's are great gars, but they can kick my butt sometimes.


----------



## zemekone (Aug 1, 2004)

Not that i know anything, but to my knowledge and experience the strongest all around brand would be the Bolivar and Partagas, and the mildest would be the El Rey Del Mundo and La Gloria Cubana... but what do know i heard im just a dumb newb...


----------



## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

There's a lot of variation in most brands, but overall, I'd say that most Bolivars are on the stronger side and most Hoyo de Monterrey and Quai d'Orsay cigars are on the milder side.


----------



## Lumpold (Apr 28, 2005)

Guantanamera may be 'mild'* in taste, but they seem to have a high nicotine content... Don't smoke em for breakfast.

*I wouldn't say they were 'mild' just not 'typical premium' cuban


----------



## Swarth (Sep 29, 2006)

I had a Fonseca Delicias last week. It had 3 years in the humidor. I had nothing to compare it with (like one fresh out of the box) but this was the mildest Habano I have ever had. This would be one I would give to a novice for them to try a "Cuban Cigar". However from what I hear, the age makes a big difference with these.


----------



## Zoomschwortz (Jul 14, 2006)

allanb3369 said:


> Bolivar is going to get a lot of comments regarding it's strength, but not all are so "Bolivar-ish". The Boli PC is not like its brothers and I've found the Boli Belicoso isn't always a killer either.
> 
> Siglo VI's are great gars, but they can kick my butt sometimes.


I had a Boli PC last night and would consider it a mild/medium bodied cigar.


----------



## Legends of the Playground (Sep 29, 2006)

Of the Marques that I'm familar with, this is how I would rate them:

Rafael Gonzales - Mild
El Rey del Mundo - Mild
Hoyo de Monterrey - Mild to medium
H. Upmann - Medium
Vegas Robaina - Medium
Montecristo - Medium
Trinidad - Medium
Romeo y Julieta - Medium
Punch - Medium
Cohiba - Medium
Juan Lopez - Medium to full
Cuaba - Medium to full
Ramon Allones - Full
Partagas - Full
Bolivar - Full


----------



## Andyman (Jun 8, 2004)

I would put San Cristobal on the milder side..


----------



## daviddunn (Sep 26, 2006)

Mmm... this is making my mouth water! I'm expecting a shipment in a couple days. =)


----------



## Made in Dade (Aug 5, 2006)

drdice said:


> From my limited experience... a Bolivar (can't remember the exact name- it was Robusto size) totally kicked my ass! I had to put it out after maybe smoking a third...obviously I'm not worthy of these yet!
> 
> I haven't tried a Cuban yet that I would classify as mild. Probably the RyJ tubo #1 and #2 were the mildest of cubans that I've ever tried.


This shows that all of our tastes are different. I actually haven't tried a Habana that I would classify as strong.


----------



## steelheaderdu (Aug 18, 2006)

That is funny. I had a Ramone Allones yesterday with some age on it. Very, very smooth, but I would not have classified that as a full bodied smoke. I was thinking medium at most. But what a damn good smoke it was. Very complex.


----------



## luckybandit (Jul 9, 2006)

RyJ tubo # 2 can not be beat for a nice mild isom, reaonably priced beautifully made, great smooth draw a real pleasure to smoke


----------



## stormin (Feb 11, 2005)

I think everyone is comparing apples to oranges. Half the replies are referring to nicotine strength and the other half are referring to flavor. Which are you interested in?


----------



## nem (Aug 2, 2006)

stormin said:


> I think everyone is comparing apples to oranges. Half the replies are referring to nicotine strength and the other half are referring to flavor. Which are you interested in?


Nicotine strength. Thanks.


----------



## cigarflip (Jul 4, 2004)

Mild - any ERDM

Strong - RyJ Cazadores


----------



## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

Legends of the Playground said:


> Of the Marques that I'm familar with, this is how I would rate them:
> 
> Rafael Gonzales - Mild
> El Rey del Mundo - Mild
> ...


You really can't rate cigars strength by brand. Some Punch cigars are med, but the SS #2 is one of the strongest cigars out there period. The Punch DC and Punch RS #12 are full strength also. Same thing with Romeo. The Cazadore is very strong. H Upmann #2's and Sir Winston are very strong cigars as they age past 10 years or so. I've never had a Juan Lopez I would consider stronger than Medium.


----------



## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

Andyman said:


> I would put San Cristobal on the milder side..


I would rate San Cristobal as med-full to Full. The El Principe is strong as a Boli PC or Party Short to me. The La Puntas and La Fuerzas all seem to go from med to Med-full after 5 years. The El Morro is the only one of the line I would say is Med. All the new sizes are fairly strong now and I expect them to get stronger with age.


----------



## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

RyJ has the whole range from mild (cedros) to powerful (Cazadores).


----------



## Airborne RU (Oct 7, 2006)

yeah some of the larger brands run the whole gamut.

i think you should also consider how long the smoke is and not just how much force. the accumulated nicotine exposure can just as easily make someone dizzy and gar-sick.

Today I had a RyJ Churchill and well it was fairly strong by the time I got further down the smoke. At 47 and almost 7in of stick it can have quite an effect.

Then there is the Paratagas Short which is a little beast of a smoke. 42 and 4in of full strength vitamin n, but then the exposure time is much much shorter. (i don't recommend this smoke for beginners, which includes myself, my problem is that i have to find a way to keep 40+ sticks for a while to age and bleed off some of the vitamin n, or until my tolerance catches up whichever is first.)


----------



## dadof3illinois (Nov 7, 2004)

Fredster said:


> I would rate San Cristobal as med-full to Full. The El Principe is strong as a Boli PC or Party Short to me. The La Puntas and La Fuerzas all seem to go from med to Med-full after 5 years. The El Morro is the only one of the line I would say is Med. All the new sizes are fairly strong now and I expect them to get stronger with age.


I agree with Fred. Actually we just had this discussion Saturday. the San Cristobal line is fast becoming one of my fav cigars. They fit right in the medium to full range. To me with even just a few years on them they really start getting that coco, coffee bean flavor with just a hint of spice.

As far as what a strong or mild cigar goes. Well a lot of it depends on the consumer who's smoking it. What one thinks is mild or strong another doesn't.

Now IMO I agree with our resident newbie zemekone......(j/k)... The Partagas and Bolivar lines are pretty strong and to me the ERDM's and LG's are more on the mild side.


----------



## Legends of the Playground (Sep 29, 2006)

> You really can't rate cigars strength by brand. Some Punch cigars are med, but the SS #2 is one of the strongest cigars out there period. The Punch DC and Punch RS #12 are full strength also. Same thing with Romeo. The Cazadore is very strong. H Upmann #2's and Sir Winston are very strong cigars as they age past 10 years or so. I've never had a Juan Lopez I would consider stronger than Medium.


It's all about opinion. I agree that within certain marques, there are strong and mild.


----------



## Stogiefanatic182 (Oct 28, 2005)

The H. Upmann Coronas Major kicked my butt but could be because it was my first cuban. Ive had a Cohiba Siglo 2 and I thought that was a medium strength stick. I would think the size of the person could also have an effect.


----------

